Flow and treatment of thick pulps

There is a global demand for effective use of energy and water in the mining industry, for example in the pumping of particle-water mixtures (slurries) in pipeline systems.

When a low consumption of water per tonne of dry
solids is reached, the energy requirement to overcome frictional resistance becomes sensitive to rheology related ("ketchup-like") properties and particle-particle interactions.

Objectives

The objective is to develop new knowledge for the design and performance of various pumping systems in the processing of iron ore.

Paste placement tests.

Approach - Results

Within the project, tests with pipeline loops and with various pumps for tailings handling has been done. In addition, data from international test stations are analysed. One difficulty is here that the project concerns the deposition of tailings from iron ore concentration that has higher density and different flow properties compared to available references.

Another task is the evaluation of dewatering and placement tests on pilot scale.